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- 1. Running Head: POND ECOSYSTEM 1 POND ECOSYSTEM 3 Chemicals on Pond Ecosystem Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Date of Submission Abstract Farm pond ecosystem ought to be managed well for better results. For instance, in our case, it is important to eradicate the invasive plants in order to protect the other beneficial aquatic animals. There are several techniques which can be used in eradicating invasive plants in ponds ranging from mechanical to chemical to cultural. Each technique has pros and cons. Chemical techniques of controlling invasive species save time and involve little labor. However, the chemicals have huge negative impacts on other organisms such as fish. This essay will address the pros and cons of using chemicals in the
- 2. eradication of invasive aquatic plants. Introduction Ponds comprise of complex systems that support the lives of many microorganisms. Phytoplankton is the basis of aquatic life in the pond ecosystem. These refer to small photosynthetic organisms which are usually single-celled. They are also referred to as algae. Zooplanktons are other small organisms which live in farm ponds and they are members of the animal kingdom that are found on the surface of the water. Examples of zooplankton include cladocerans, rotifers, and copepods. Zooplankton such as crustaceans, insects, and tadpoles consume phytoplankton. Larger animals (invertebrates) like bivalves (fingernail clams), annelids (leeches), gastropods (snails), decapods (crayfish), oligochaetes (worms), and insects consume the small animals. The above creates a complex food web that takes place in the pond ecosystem. The pros of using chemicals to eradicate invasive plants include the following: will kill the target plants, saves time, effective tool for new and small infestations of invasive plants, less labor intensive than other methods such as cultural and mechanical methods, and lastly, it can have residual control of seed-bank for future years depending on the type of chemical used (Relyea, 2005). Use of chemicals will eradicate all the targeted species or plants. This means all the invasive plants will be destroyed giving room for other beneficial organisms.
- 3. Secondly, the method is simple and involves simple procedures. This means that it saves time compared to other techniques. In terms of labor, the pond owner is only expected to spray the area with the best chemical and all targeted species will die. Use of chemicals is also believed to have some disadvantages or negative impacts on aquatic life. This is because the chemicals will kill or affect the other organisms living in the water. For instance, the chemical used to prevent and control invasive plants can have a harmful impact on small microorganisms which are a food to larger animals like fish. In addition to providing food, small aquatic animals determine the health of a farm pond ecosystem. They all have unique habitat requirements and will respond to changes in chemical, biological, and physical makeup of the environment differently (Hahn et al., 2014). Invasion species or plants spread easily in a farm pond ecosystem and within a short period of time, they out-compete other animals in the habitat. They are believed to reduce biodiversity and also lessen the suitability of the environment for other aquatic animals such as fish. There are a number of techniques which are employed to eradicate the invasive species and they include mechanical, biological, and chemical controls. However, to make the process more effective, it is advisable to combine all of the above methods. For instance, manual removal of plats from the farm pond followed by careful treatment using selective herbicide in order to remove weed residues is very effective. Biological control, on the other hand, involves the use of natural methods like beneficial insects to reduce the spread or reproduction of invasive plants. For the technique to be effective, farm owners should identify the predators of such plants. Chemical techniques for controlling invasive plants such as the use of herbicides and pesticides can only be effective if used carefully. When used inappropriately or irresponsibly, herbicides and pesticides can contaminate ground and surface water thus translating to negative impacts on other aquatic
- 4. animals. Herbicides used in water are different from those used on land. Generally, the effects of using chemicals on a pond ecosystem to eradicate invasive plants include the death of aquatic animals, diseases, and disruption of food-chains. The main problem caused by the use of chemicals on farm ponds is that it kills organisms that depend on the water. For instance, reptiles and invertebrates living in the pond will be killed by the chemicals. In other cases, the chemical can kill useful animals such as fish in the water. This majorly happens when the pond owner uses the wrong chemical to eradicate the weed. There are two types of herbicides, those which are used on land and those which are used in water. Use of land chemicals to eradicate aquatic plants will have a huge impact on the health of the animals living in the farm pond. Disruption of food-chains- use of chemicals to eradicate aquatic weed also disrupts natural food chain (Hill, Heimbach, Leeuwangh, & Matthiessen, 2018). When the chemical is consumed by the microorganisms and the microorganisms are later consumed by fish, the entire population becomes affected. Lastly, the affected fish, if consumed by humans, cause diseases and infections. People are expected to get diseases like hepatitis by eating poisoned fish. Conclusion Chemicals are good if used appropriately and effectively. This is because they eradicate all the targeted species and little labor is needed. Unlike other methods such as mechanical techniques, use of chemicals saves time thus making the method more effective. However, chemicals have a huge impact on aquatic life. They can lead to the death of other beneficial organisms and animals. Consumption of poisoned fish can also cause human diseases and infections. My recommendation is that the Mountain View College facilities department should not use chemicals to eradicate the plants since the cons are more than the cons. The procedure will have more negative impacts than the benefits. It is, therefore,
- 5. better to use other techniques such as the mechanical method of eradication. This entails physical uprooting of the plants. This will not affect the life of other organisms in the farm pond. References Hahn, T., Diamond, J., Dobson, S., Howe, P., Kielhorn, J., Koennecker, G., ... & Taylor, K. (2014). Predicted no effect concentration derivation as a significant source of variability in environmental hazard assessments of chemicals in aquatic systems: An international analysis. Integrated environmental assessment and management, 10(1), 30-36. Hill, I. R., Heimbach, F., Leeuwangh, P., & Matthiessen, P. (2018). Freshwater field tests for hazard assessment of chemicals. CRC Press. Relyea, R. A. (2005). The impact of insecticides and herbicides on the biodiversity and productivity of aquatic communities. Ecological applications, 15(2), 618-627. Consumer FoodAnnual Food Spending ($)Annual Household Income ($)Non mortgage household debt ($)Region: 1 = NE 2 = MW 3 = S 4 = WLocation: 1 = Metro 2 = Outside Metro890956697231801156843594570521110706526871614911 14112740412183911138556318218866111561979064218991126 94259818774119127574241576611135147204527685116314380 46854511762252408280571143224140569981138052968448061 16674492461359211734741491408811291126703158761180264 87531671411856755555167831110345714832140711869450980 19114118821464037817118678519271441511143318476917295 11961959062166871192865795214161118206583551953811164 08816941518711127576952214651111774096132011773957796 22057111538388276189611457932264797911116796592801112 87769924273301116232911089876119621540701990811817147 23817819111212877427313401186425980549631112400603346 63211918554114185931278624068015202129775582631486126 77152008217131230593964312179121321170309132211274084 64505602121158176140338741214233808331147812335231899
- 7. 74311999541886864782144894164263898717864411109664867 58394110086504218689412587270761753441124925178420284 42845654135220374268015329123342426339498043494342780 25220528579429717728412234942602646238201654256184593 81053842102177771618516428338597117980429048421061978 64240173646299354210906534031817742151487129066964288 30667592097242848157616287674211358762211373421055378 20259204269695516424795421321961171214824235433409325 96942732650647107504284585989822940421176652884259704 2990873629711242 FinancialCompanyTypeTotal RevenuesTotal AssetsReturn on EquityEarnings per ShareAverage YieldDividends per ShareAverage P/E RatioAFLAC672512945417.12.080.90.2211.5Albertson's414690 521921.42.081.60.6319Allstate6201068091820.13.5610.3610.6 Amerada Hess7834079350.20.081.10.6698.3American General63362806207.12.1931.421.2American Stores419139853612.21.011.40.3423.5Amoco7362873248916.7 2.763.11.416.1Arco Chemical2399541166.21.146.12.840.4Ashland71431977779.53. 82.31.112.4Atlantic Richfield7192722532221.85.413.82.833.8Bausch & Lomb51916277360.892.61.042.6Baxter International56138870711.51.062.31.1347.2Bristol-Myers Squibb5167011497744.43.1421.5224.1Burlington Coat1177777512.31.180.10.0212.9Central Maine Power395422992.40.167.80.979.6Chevron7419503547318.64.95 32.2815.2CIGNA61493510819913.74.8821.111.4Cinergy343538 85813.31.595.11.822.4Dayton Hudson12775714191181.71.20.3316.2Dillard's1681755929.22.3 10.40.1615.7Dominion Resources37678201937.92.156.82.5817.7Dow Chemical2200182404023.67.73.63.2411.6DPL31356358513.91. 25.30.9114.3E. I. DuPont DeNemours2466534294221.32.082.11.2327.9Eastman Chemical24678577816.33.6331.7616Edison
- 8. International392352510112.31.734.2113.6Engelhard2363125866 .10.331.90.3861.8Entergy39562270014.21.036.91.825.4Equitabl e6966615143812.32.860.50.213.4Ethyl71064106753.60.715.60. 512.6Exxon71372429606419.43.372.81.6317.1FPL Group363691244912.23.573.71.9214.4The GAP16508333833.71.30.70.222Georgia Gulf29666132282.391.10.3211.8GIANT Food4423115227.91.182.40.7826.9A & P41026229956.91.661.20.3517.8Great Lakes Chemicals2131122705.51.191.30.6240.5Green Mountain Power Company31793268.31.577.31.6114Hannaford Bros.4322612279.91.41.50.5426.6Hercules218662411473.182.2 114.5Houston Industries368731841581.666.61.513.7Jefferson- Pilot625782313114.53.472.31.0413.3Johnson & Johnson5226292145326.72.411.50.8524.1Liberty6660318511.13 .341.80.7712.7The Limited19189430110.60.792.30.4826.7Lincoln National64899771750.40.213.11.96300.2Lubrizol216741462192 .662.61.0114.5Lyondell Petrochemical73010155946.23.583.90.96.4Mallinkrodt5186829 8814.82.471.70.6616May Department Stores112685993020.53.112.41.216.2McKesson5208575608111. 591.20.526Mercantile Stores1314421787.93.532.11.1916.3Merck5236372581236.63.7 41.71.6926.6Millennium Chemicals23048432612.62.472.90.68.3Mobil7659064355916.84 .013.12.1217.2Monsanto27514107747.20.481.10.590.7Morton22 388280512.31.4810.3625.2Murphy Oil72138223812.32.942.61.3518Mylan Laboratories555584813.50.820.90.1622.4NALCO Chemical214341441252.12.6118.3Nevada Power3799233910.11.656.81.614.2NIPSCO32587493714.11.534 .10.914.4Olin22410194617.432.81.214.5Orion Capital615913884164.151.50.69.8Owens & Minor531177139.40.61.40.1821.7Pacific Corporation36278138805.20.684.61.0834.2J. C.
- 9. Penney130546234937.72.13.82.1326.9Pennzoil72654440615.83. 761.6117.1Pfizer5125041533627.91.71.10.6835.4Pharmacia & Upjohn56710103805.80.613.11.0856.2Phillips Petroleum7154241386019.93.6131.3412.4Poe & Brown612919425.11.481.50.3516.3PPG27379686828.53.942.31. 3314.7PP&L Resources33049948511.41.87.71.6712Progressive64190756018. 75.310.30.2417Rohm & Haas23999390019.82.132.20.6313.4Ruddick4230088512.51.021 .80.3217Schering-Plough56778650751.21.951.50.7424.6Sears, Roebuck1412963870020.32.991.80.9217.4Stryker598098520.51. 280.30.1127.2Sun7105314667182.72.8113Sunamerica62114356 3714.71.80.90.319.5Texaco7466672960020.94.873.11.7511.5Th e TJX Companies17389261026.31.750.60.098.2Torchmark6228310967 17.52.391.70.5914.2Tosco713282597510.91.370.80.2423Travel ers63760938655514.92.540.90.417Ultramar Diamond Shamrock71088255959.51.943.51.116.1Union Carbide26502696428.84.531.60.7910.7United States Surgical Corporation5117217267.51.210.50.1629UNOCAL76064753028. 92.6520.815.5UNUM640771320015.22.591.30.5617USX- Marathon7157541056512.61.582.40.7619.8Valero Energy7575624939.62.031.20.4217.2Warner- Lambert58180803130.71.041.40.5135.7WEIS Markets418199729.21.8730.9416.9Wellman2108313194.80.971. 80.3520.5Winn-Dixie Stores413219292115.31.362.70.9827.2WITCO221872298141.55 2.91.1224.9Zenith Nation Insurance660112527.81.573.7117 HospitalHospitalGeog. RegionControlServiceBedsAdmissionsCensusOutpat. VisitsBirthsTot. Exp.Payroll Exp.Personnel11212107713107869823125683122061792211134 71606519814922210771272235579917623121511230283562225 65102715709361326231041111424338100367103552446210503 32857114090591335016813730636818164212201556315988721 38109325733920107774411375347651888857354545826919742